Thread holding and cutting device for shoe sewing machines



- Dec. 27, 1949 D. P. HAY

THREAD HOLDING AND CUTTING DEVICE FOR SHOE SEWING MACHINES Filed July 50, 1947 Ifiventor mm A my QM/QMA Patented Dec. 27, 1949 own-so as Parsat 2,492,149

THREAD HOLDIN G AN D GIITIIINGYDEVIGEf snoeinaeliinerycorporationy-Flemingtim,

a; corporation of New J ersey Application/Ink 30, 1947,,Serial No= 764,865

4 ciaiins: (0.112 2 5?)- The-present invention relate's'tb' shoe inseam sewing? machines and more" particularly to" 1mpr'ove'm'entsin thread cuttingaiidhoidirigdevices similar't'o those disclosediii'Unit'ed statesjietters Patent No: 1,396',06 6,1.g'radted November 8; 1921, on? application of Thomas H. see-1y; and" No. 2200,402 'gr'an'tedMay 14; I940, ijipbfi' ajpiplitfaltidfi ofTVict'or J Tetra-tilt;

The'machines disc'lbs'edih the a'tentsi eferred toare" equipped with thread cutters" so" arranged that after the sewin operation is completed the shoe is rerii'ovedfrom the machine, withdrawing a length of thread connecting the" end of the seam'in theshoe with thestitchrormingrdevices andtheshoe is given a seconu'upwaramevementf tcie'ngage the threadwith a threadholder'iand" then a third movementi'n a T diiferent direction to carrythe thread against 'theied'ge ofiathreadbut' tin-gknife. In the machi'rieof'theuSedy patent the shoe; after being disengaged from the ma} chine, is moved, first along the line of the to' with'di' aw thread", then" upwardly and iii the reverse" direction to engage the thread with the" thread holder aridthe'n' downw-alrdifirto' severth'e' t dead. In the machine oi' theTetrau1t patent it is necessary torevers'e the movementwof the shoe in a horizontal direction after'engiaging'the thread'with the cutting knife to'cause th'ethreaf to he severed. While the movements: rqnired'tbj produce the desired results" are reiativeljy sh-ort and consume a small fraction of a' second only,

these movements when taken to'geiirierradii upto* an appreciable efiort as comparedtb thetot'al eX'-' penditure of both time and energyf'onacomplete days output 'of'work.

It is accordingly an object of the present ih vention to provide a thread h oldiriigfand'cutting device for a shoe inseam sewing machine by means of which the thread ma safely besever'ed much closer to the end'of a seam in a s ho'e than with prior thread cutting devices' and; with a minimum number of movements ofthe 'sh'oeafter' :being withdrawn from the machine. I

In the illustrated form of the'inventionthe" machine is 'pnovided with a device having" op di'sposed'in'front of the cutting'ea eertiiekhiie as" 2 to giiiar atniesiioevfiem iin'ii tiieiciittii eagi while ththre'aid' i's'lbeihgisevered. Bir" this a}r ran'g'eiiieiitufe shee "ay betrougiit into-attain omaet timie gipoition'orthe editing devieewvitiieiit ang jloifiiiiiirv nefore the. thread. is severed, after which a'ri' extieiiieiysfiortimov'e; ment of the shoe will sever the thread s u'fiicieritlif ei'zise tbi-th eiifd eriiieseaiii to; avoiatiie'ne'cessity erri rtriertriiiim iiig: H g I Y riieseu irdi other rea'tiiies' r. the invention as: n r'eiiiarterues Tihda'rid eiaiiii eaeeiisist m' er taiii'o de'ifities', c rfihiifatiohs; andarra n geiner'its. 6f parts, the? advantages o f'fwi11 radilfigghf understood fioii'f the" detailed" d eri- 'tiontaken.

the'accoiiipahi iiig'drawiiigsi same, exceptas hereinafter desc'ri United States. Letters" Patent" N hante 'd Aiig sufli eiittoenatieariew eani tooestarted witii free ends facing away from the point of sewing operation toward the left of the machine. In order to introduce the thread to the gripping jaws of the patented machines, the shoe must be drawn to the left of the sewing point beyond the gripping jaws and the direction of shoe movement reversed to bring the: thread while held taut between the shoe and the looper laterally between the spaced ends of the jaws. After engagement of the thread with the jaws of the patented machines the shoe is moved still further toward the right until the thread is carriedagainst the edge of the cutting knife. To sever the thread in the Tetrault machine the shoe must again be reversed in its movement to tighten the thread against the cutting edge of the knife. Such an arrangement has been considered necessary heretofore for reliable gripping and cutting results. Furthermore, when the shoe is carried to the right to bring the thread into engagement with the cutting edge of the knife it is difiicult to gage the length of thread between the cutting edge of the knife and the shoe, since this length'of thread is determined by the distance through which the shoe is withdrawn to the left of the machine before engagement with the gripping jaws.

'In the machine of the present invention the shoe is moved upwardly and somewhat to the left after the seam has been completed and engaged in a single movement with the gripping jaws during continued upward movement of the shoe rather than during a definite additional movement of the shoe to the right as in prior machines. After engagement of the thread with the gripping jaws in the present machine the thread is brought against the cutting edge of the knife during continued upward movement of the shoe. To sever the thread in the present machine, therefore, it is necessary only to continue the upward movement of the shoe and to pull it somewhat forwardly of the machine, as indicated by the dot-dash lines in Fig. 3, movement to the right being avoided or reduced to an inapprociable minimum. The cutting edge of the knife in the present machine also is located closer to the gripping jaws for the thread than in prior machines so that it is easier to gage the length of thread required for effective gripping and severing of the thread while withdrawing the shoe from the machine.

The thread gripping jaws of the illustrated machine are similar to those of the machine in the Tetrault patent and consist of a pair of elongated plates 20 and 22 having flaring spaced ends forming a throat to receive the thread. The jaw plates are secured to a supporting block 24 by means of clamping bolts 26 passing through the plates and into threaded engagement with the block. The bolts 26 also pass through the shank of a thread cutting knife blade 28 to form a back-- ing for the bolts. The block 24 in turn is secured to the frame of the machine by clamp screws passing through openings 30 in the block, the arrangement of the thread gripping plates being such that they are inclined downwardly toward a shoe being sewn and somewhat to the left of the sewing point.

The thread cutting knife blade 28 has its shank portion extending parallel to the gripping jaw plates 20 and 22 and is provided with slotted openings 32 for the clamping bolts 26 to permit easy removal of the knife merely by loosening the bolts. The cutting edge of the knife, however, extends generally parallel to the line of the seam inserted by the machine and faces rearwardly with a bend of approximately right angles to the shank, forming between the cutting edge and the shank a projecting abutment portion which acts as a guard against which the shoe may bear during the thread cutting operation.

The sequence of movements imparted to the shoe at the end of a seam in the machine of the present invention includes first a movement to the left to withdraw thread from the looper 6 sufficient in length to enable a new seam to be started, and a second single upward movement to engage the thread laterally between the thread gripping jaws and to bring the thread against the cutting edge of the knife 28. For the purpose of gaging accurately the length of thread end remaining on the shoe a third movement of the shoe may be made to bring the shoe into actual contact with the abutment formed by the bend in the knife blade. The surfaces of the shoe within the angle of the sewing rib and the feather on the insole engage the bend and a rolling action is imparted to the shoe utilizing the abutment as a fulcrum. After engagement of the shoe with the abutment a uniformly accurate position relatively to the knife is insured so that the knife will act close to the end of the seam in the shoe, the actual severing force being applied to the thread during the rolling action. It will thus be noted that engagement of the thread in the gripping jaws of the thread holder and the severance of the thread may be accomplished with great accuracy in two more or less continuous movements without requiring a definite reversal of movement as in prior machines. Furthermore, by utilizing the abutment on the device as a gage the thread remaining connected with the shoe may be made uniformly short to avoid the necessity of furthertrimming while at the same time leaving an end of adequate length to start a new seam.

The nature and scope of the invention having been indicated and a particular embodiment having been described, what is claimed is:

l. A machine for sewing an inseam to connect a ribbed insole and an upper of a shoe having stitch forming devices, in combination with a thread holder provided with opposed gripping jaws pressed yieldingly toward each other and disposed with fiaring spaced ends forming a throat which'faces toward the shoe being operated upon to admit lateral entry of the sewing thread extending between the sewn shoe and the stitch forming devices in a single upward movement of the shoe while being withdrawn from the machine.

.2. A machine for sewing an inseam to connect a ribbed insole and an upper of a shoe, having stitch forming devices and a thread holder provided with opposed gripping jaws pressed yieldingly toward each other and disposed with spaced ends facing the shoe being operated upon to admit lateral entry of. the sewing thread extending between the sewn shoe and the stitch forming devices in a single movement of the shoe while being withdrawn from the machine, in combination with a thread cutter at the front of the machine above the sewing point having a knife extending generally parallel to the line of the seam inserted by the machine, the cutting edge of whichfaces rearwardly, and a projection disposed in front of the cutting edge of the knife, serving as an abutment to guard the shoe from injury by the cutting edge while severing the thread.

3. A machine for sewing an inseam to connect a ribbed insole and an upper of a shoe, having stitch forming devices and a thread holder provided with opposed gripping jaws pressed yieldingly toward each other and disposed with spaced ends facing the shoe being operated upon to admit lateral entry of the sewing thread extending between the sewn shoe and the stitch forming devices in a single movement of the shoe while being withdrawn from the machine, in combination with a thread cutter at the front of the machine above the sewing point having a knife blade, the shank of which extends parallel to the gripping jaws and the cutting edge of which faces rearwardly at an angle to the shank to form between the cutting edge and the shank a projecting portion in front of the cutting edge to guard the shoe from injury by the cutting edge while severing the thread.

4. A machine for sewing an inseam to connect a ribbed insole and an upper of a shoe, having stitch forming devices and a thread holder provided with opposed gripping jaws pressed yieldingly toward each other and disposed with spaced ends facing the shoe being operated upon to admit lateral entry of the sewing thread extending between the sewn shoe and the stitch forming devices in a single movement of the shoe while being withdrawn from the machine, in combination with a thread cutter at the front of the machine above the sewing point having a knife blade, the shank of which extends parallel to the gripping jaws and the cutting edge of which faces rearwardly at an angle to the shank to form between the cutting edge and the shank a projecting portion in front of the cutting edge to guard the shoe from injury by the cutting edge while severing the thread, the projecting portion of the knife blade being bent and formed to fit the angle between the rib and feather of the shoe, the bend extending along a line at an angle to the cutting edge of the knife to guard the shoe from the cutting edge during movement of the shoe about the bend.

DANA P. HAY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,396,066 Seely Nov. 8, 1921 2,200,402 Tetrault May 14, 1940 2,327,146 Watts Aug. 1'7, 1943 

